Tray for traveler ovens



Feb. 17, 1931. w.| MUELLER 1,793,445

TRAY FOR TRAVELER OVENS Filed Oct. 4, 1950 2 Sheets- Sheet 1 Feb. 17, 1931. w. MUELLER TRAY FOR TRAVELER OVENS Filed 001;. 4, 1950 VV/LL/AM L, MUELLER 10: of metal. The parts are assemblel in a man- Patented F eb. 17, 1931 7 ,WILLIAM. LgMUELLER, or rajcaanen, rumors, AssIenon no la COMPANY, or cnrcaco, lLLiNTOIS, A CORPORATION or .nanm

TRAY FOR TRAVELER, OVENS present invention relates' to travelerconveying the bakery products through an 54 oven of this character.

-The structure which I have devised is assembled so as to;insulate the soapstone slab or-shelf which forms the sectional hearth from its supporting element which' s usually ner to permit expansion or contraction of the metal without afiecting the soapstone slab or shelf. The manner of assembling the parts and of securing the slab to the metal base or 1&- support is such that the securing means may be readily accessible to the operator or repairman, at such times as is necessary. The metal-structure also provides a substantial protection to the longitudinal edges of the soapstone slab and prevents damage thereto.

Among the objects of my invention are the provision of a shelf or tray for traveler ovens that isnovel in construction, dependable in operation, eflective in performing the .func tions for which it is designed, and'is economical to manufacture; V I

I prefer. to carryqout myinvention and to thereby accomplish the several objects thereof in substantially the manner hereinafter fully described and as more particularly pointed out in the claims. Reference will now be madeto the accompanying drawings that form a part of this specification, in which, j e

.Fig. 1 is atra-nsverse section of one of the conveyor shelves or trays of a traveler oven made in accordance with my invention.

Fig.2 is an end elevation showing on a reduced scale two of the traysor shelves in the position assumed in passing around athe securing members.

Figs. 3, and tare a transverse section and a plan of a tray slightly modified The drawings it willbe understood, "are sprocket and disclosing the accessibility of 7 more or less schematic for the purpose of disclosingtypical or preferred embodiments of myeinvention, and in these drawings similar reference characters have been employed to chambers of the oven.

Application filed October 4, 1930.: Serial .no. 486,335.

throughout the several views.

designate likeparts Whereverithey:

. Referring to the drawings, it willjbeseen the tray structure comprises a base or support that has lateral flanges and the soapstone shelf or slab is ,securedtothese'flanges byretainingclipsor stripsthatnalsosact as a pnoof channel shown in Figs. ,1 and 2 or of the built up composite. type shown in Figs-Band 4:. In the type shown inFigsg-landQthe web of the channel isdisposed in a horizontal plane and the longitudinal flanges ,6 thereof project downwardly. The channelpiece is of such length that iteXtenfds-from side-to side ,across the oven and the; ends. thereof are secured to suitable rollers. that travel upon a guide-track on the side-wallsof the oven during the movement of the traveler through the The -supporting base. is provided with fiangesthat extend laterally from its; upper longitudinal edges, said flanges being p ref erably in the form ofangle pieces having vertical flanges 7 that are riveted-t0. the-flanges 6 of the base. Thisarrangement disposes thelateral flanges 8. of the angle-pieces in a flanges 6 in the mannershown inFigal- It n rnrnnsnngovnn i 7. .780 horizontal planeso that they project outwardly from the verticalplane ofthe based the upper surface of the web5-l0fthe sup porting base or. channel. For the purpose of-insulating the shelf from the flanges 8,1

place asbestos strips 9 uponsaid flanges -,8 so

that the soapstoneslab l0 issupportedalong its longitu-dinaledgesupon the asbestos strips and is heat insulated from. the flanges 8 by the strips 9.

A retainer and protecting strip is'placed along eachlongitudinal e dge of the soap-.

stone slab or shelf 10, and these strips consist of elongated pieces of sheet metal bent substantially U-shaped in section. Thewveb portion 11' of the retainer and protector is vertically. disposed and. itl is spaced a slight distance away from the adjacent longitudinal edge of the shelf 10, and its lower flange 12 extends inwardly toward the suppOrting basebelow the lateral flange 8 thereof. The

1 recessed or grooved by cutting away slightly to provide a seat 13 to receivethe upper upper longitudinal surface of the shelf is flange 14 of the retainer and protector strip which is seated in this cut away portion so i where the nuts 16 are screwed thereon.

flange 14 of the side strip, and said bolts have a smooth surface upon the greater portion oftheirshanks so that the threads are pro--- videdonly upon their lower portions that pass through holes-made in the heat insulating strips .9, the lateral flanges 8 of the base and the lower flange 12 of the protecting strips and then pass out below the latter,

smooth shanks of the bolts 15 pass through smooth bores 17 that are drilled through the edges of the shelf, which bores are greater in diameter than the transverse dimensions of the bolts, so that the latter do not come into contact with the soapstoneslabs forming these shelves. 1

It willbe seen that practically no portion of the soapstone slab that forms the shelf is in contact with the metal parts of the trays, with the exception of the upper portion where the flange 14 of the securing and protecting strip is seated. It will also be noted that an air pocket 18 is provided between the slab and the web 5 of the base member, and by making the bores 17 larger than the-diameters of the bolts any expansion or contraction of themetal parts will be accommodated.

When the trays are traveling through the oven they are side-by-side with their longitudinal edges closely adj acent each other, so as to provide a practically continuous traveler,

hearth. When the trays reach the end of the oven chamber the'rollers engage with large sprockets and the trays will, in traveling around with the sprockets, be disposed at obtuse angles to each other in the manner as shown in Fig. 2, in which position the edges which previously had been closely adjacent each other are now separated to such an eX- tent that the operator may have readyaccess tothe nuts 16that secure the bolts in position and a new soapstone slab may be readily replaced while the trays are in this position.

It will be obvious that modifications and refinements of the structure'herein shown and described may be made without departing from the principles involved. The drawings and detailed description herein are given for the purpose of clearness of understanding only and no unnecessary limitations are to be understood therefrom, but the claims drawings, and by reference to these figures are to be construed as broadly as permissible 1n v1ew of the prior art.

A modifiedgstructure such as above con-j templatedis disclosed in Figs. 3 and 4 of the i i it will be seen that the supporting base for the shelf retains its channelshape in section and there are lateral longitudinal extensions thereon to which the soapstone slab 10 is. se-.,. cured and by which it is supported in spaced" relation to'the channel-shaped supporting base.

Thebuilt-up or composite channel structure illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4 comprises short transverse end-sills 20 that are of angle-metal with'the horizontal lateral flanges disposed uppermost,-and to these are secured the longitudinal side-sills 21 that are disposed in the same manner and with their horizontal lateral flanges facing each other j in the manner shown in Fig.3 of the draw- The ing. A relatively thinnermetal plate 22 is disposed upon the horizontal flanges of the side-sills 21zand completes the channelshaped composite structure. Plate 22 is of an elongated rectangular shape and, as seen in Fig. 3, it is wider than the composite channel, structure'so as to provide lateral. extensions or flanges 23 along the upper edges of the sides of the channel structure that is similar in function to the flanges; 8' of the embodiment disclosed in Figure 1.. The heat-insulation strips 9 are placed along the longitudinal edges of the extensions or flanges 23 to receive the soap-stone slab 1O that is assembled on the structure in the same manner as described in connection with the disclosure in Fig. 1, the parts being of the same construction as therein noted and need not be repeated here.

The end-sills 20 are secured to'the adjacent links 24 of the traveler-chain intermediate the pivot-pins 25 that connect the rollers 26 thereto and connect the links in longitudinal arrangement as shownin Fig. 4.

1. An oven tray comprising a supporting base membeiyfianges projecting from the sides thereof, a plate supported along-its edges upon said flanges, and metal pieces extending along and secured to the edges said plate and flanges.

2. An oven tray comprising an elongated supporting base member, flanges projecting from the longitudinal positions thereof, a;

plate supported along its edges upon said I flanges, metal pieces extending along the edges of sa d plate and flanges, and securing means passed through said metal pieces,

flanges and the edges of said. platefor clamping said parts in assembly on saidbase.

3. An' oven tray comprising a supporting base member of inverted U-shape,flanges projecting laterally from the sides thereof. a plate supported along its edges upon said flanges, U-shaped metal. pieces extending along the top and edges of said plate and under said flange and secured to said parts.

- ed downwardly,

' from the longitudinal edgesiof said base at parts in assembly on said base.

the upper corners thereof, a plate supported along its edges on said flanges, 'U-shaped protecting strips along the longitudinal edges of said plate with their upper posed on the top surface of said plate and with their lower flanges engaged with the lateral flanges of said base, and securing means passed through each of said flanges and through said plate for clamping said 5. An oventray comprising a channel member disposed with its flanges extended downwardly, flanges projecting laterally from the longitudinal edges of said member 7 at the upper corners thereof, heat insulation strips on said lateral flanges, a plate supported along its edges on said insulation strips, U-shaped protecting longitudinal edges of said upper flanges disposed on the top surface of said plate and with their lower flanges engaged with the lateral flanges of said base,

strips along the plate with their and securingmeans passed through each of said flanges and through said plate for clamping said parts in assembly on said base.

An oven tray comprising a channel member disposed with its flanges extended downwardly, angle pieces secured to the up per portions thereof to provide lateral flanges on said channel, a plate supported along its edges on said angle pieces, protecting strips of channel section-engaged with-said angle pieces and extending over the top of said plate, and securing means passed through the lateral portions of said strips and through said plate and the lateral flanges of said angle pieces.

7. An oven tray comprising a channelmember disposed with its flanges extended downwardly, angle-pieces secured to the up per portions thereof to on said channel, heat-insulation strips on the upper surfaces of the flanges of said anglepieces, a plate supported along its edges on said heat-insulation strips, protecting'strips of channel-section engaged with said angle pieces and extending over the top of said plate, and securing means passed through the lateral portions of said strips and through said plate and the lateral flanges of said angle-pieces to'maintain said plate in assembly with said channel-member.

8. An oven tray comprising a base frame metal end-rails connecting the ends thereof, and a flat plate secured to the top of said rails to provide an inverted composite channel, said plate extended beyond the side-rails flanges disnel, said provide lateral flanges to provide longitudinal flanges onsaid frame, a slab supported along its edges upon said flanges, and metal pieces extending along and secured to the edges of said slab and flanges. 9. An oven tray comprising a base frame consisting of angle-metal side-rails, an'gle-= metal end-rails connecting the ends thereof, and a flat plate-secured to the top of said rails to provide an inverted composite channel, said plate extended beyond the side-rails to provide longitudinal flanges I on said frame, a slab supported along its edges upon metal end-rails connecting the ends thereof, of said and a flat plate secured to the top rails to provide an inverted composite chanrails to frame,

under said flanges and secured to said parts. 11. An oven tray comprising a base frame consisting of angle-metal side-rails, anglemetal end-rails connecting the ends thereof, and a flat plate secured to thetop of said rails to provide an inverted composite channel, said plate extended beyond the side-rails and providing lateral longitudinal flanges at the upper corners of said frame, a slab supported along its edges on-said flanges, tecting stripsalong'the longitudinal edges of said slab with their upper flanges disposed on the top surface of said slab and with their lower flanges engaged With the lateral flanges of said base frame, and securing means passed through each of said flanges and through said slab for parts in assembly upon said Signed at Chicago, Cook the 26 day of August, 1930.

TVILLIAM L. MUELLER. 7

U-shaped proclamping said flanges, and the edges of said slab for clamp plate extended beyond .the sideprovide longitudinal flanges on said a slab supported along'it's edges upon said flanges, U-shaped metal pieces extending along the top and edges of said slab'and 

